Arctic Climate
Climate, vegetation and scenery
The Arctic climate is found in countries around the Arctic Ocean. This includes north Alaska, north Canada, coastal areas of Greenland, northern Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Finland) and Siberia in northern Russia. The main features of this climate are low amounts of precipitation with a summer maximum, mild summers and very cold winters. This extreme climate produces the type of scenery known as the Tundra. The winters in the Tundra as well as being very cold are also very dark and north of the Arctic circle there are days when the sun does not rise. Precipitation is very low in this season as the cold temperatures reduce evaporation and the air can only hold very low amounts of water vapour. |
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What little snow that falls does not melt so the land is covered in snow and ice all winter. The short summers see the land covered in heather, moss and arctic flowers. The land is waterlogged, as the ground will remain frozen and so impermeable with only the top metre or so melting. The frozen ground is known as permafrost and the section that melts is known as the active layer. Plants do not grow high due to the strong winds and the permafrost preventing deep roots.
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You may want to try a mixed-up word exercise on this information. It opens in another resizable window.